FIC: Reciprocity - Sean and Elijah.. oh YEAH!

[rakshi.livejournal.com]

My thanks to enchanteresse for requesting the original story in this series, Migraine. Now Elijah gets to take care of SEAN! WOOT!



Title: Reciprocity
Author: Rakshi ( rakshi_lady@hotmail.com )
Rating: PG-13 (I think??)
Pairing: Sean Astin/Elijah Wood
Summary: enchanteresse wanted a story called "Migraine' and someone else wanted Sean to get reciprocity. In this story, he does.
Feedback: I'd appreciate it very much.. Please.
Archive: The Sean-Elijah web site. Others please ask.

Reciprocity

It was a charity game, and anything that helped people improve their lives always drew Sean like metal to a magnet. In this particular case, the people were involved were children, which made the lure even stronger. Add to that the fact that Sean just plain loved to play baseball and you have a set of circumstances that is damned near irresistible. So when Sean was asked to play third base in a game whose profits went to help underprivileged children, it came as no surprise to anyone that he eagerly agreed to participate.

Elijah wanted to play too, but was contractually bound not to engage in any sports until shooting was completed on his next movie. He had asked permission, thinking that they might relent since the cause was a good one, but they were terrified that their young star might get injured and flatly refused. And in spite of the fact that Elijah made his anger about their decision extremely apparent, they held firm. Elijah was definitely sidelined. But if he couldn't play, he could, at least, cheer, and he would be in the bleachers along with Sean's mother and brother doing just that.

Anna winked at him when he pick her up. "What?" she said with a grin that so closely twinned Sean's that Elijah's heart skipped a beat, "You mean to tell me you aren't half naked and painted red and blue?" These were the colors that decorated Sean's uniform. Elijah leaned over to kiss her cheek and shook his head. "He threatened me with bodily harm if I so much as yell too loud. He's scared to death I'm going to embarrass him."

"Oh screw that!" the Oscar winning actress said with a dismissive wave. "I intend to yell 'Fuck the umpire!' any time I think Sean gets a raw deal."

Elijah grinned, knowing she meant every word she said. "Well, maybe I'll get half naked and paint myself up for him tonight after he gets home." He said with a wink.

"With edible paints?" Sean's mother said, grinning, and Elijah shook his head and laughed.

"Sean is going to LOVE having her here today." Elijah thought, still laughing. He hoped Mac, Sean's brother, could help keep her calmed down because if he couldn't, Sean might have a few embarrassing moments. Elijah was honest enough to admit that he snickered behind his hand at Sean's discomfort when his passionate, and occasionally obnoxious, mother engaged in her rowdy antics.

His relationship with Anna had started out rocky. Elijah didn't understand the dynamic she and Sean had developed during the long years when they worked to repair their relationship. Anna's sharp and sometimes sarcastic tongue sounded dismissive to Elijah, and he bristled with protective anger anytime she used her overbearing tone with Sean. After a time, though, he came to see that her autocratic attitude was the defense, which protected a soft and vulnerable heart, one that Elijah knew she had passed on, undiminished, to her eldest son.

Anna clearly adored Sean. And was, just as clearly, wracked with guilt over the abuses he had suffered as a child because of her disease. She had tried to make it up in every way possible, and Sean couldn't have loved her more. She would always be a handful, though. Her relationship with Elijah had gone through several transformations already.

Elijah had sworn that he would not stand silently by and listen while she talked down to Sean, a promise he made good on the very first time she visited their Malibu home.

Ally was visiting. She and Elijah were down by the ocean splashing in the breakers. Elijah had his hands full because the waves and Sean's daughter were both lively and nearly impossible to control. He refused to let go of Ally's hand, a restriction she found most annoying. "Let me GO, Unka Lijah!" She yelped, trying to pull away.

Elijah laughed and swooped her up into his arms. "No WAY, little princess!" he told her, swinging her around. "I'm not letting you go. The waves are too big today and daddy would be mad at me if I let you get hurt in them."

Sean's daughter, a live wire dead-on image of him, put both hands on his shoulders as he held her and looked him straight in the eye. "I'm telling daddy you're mean, Unka Lijah." She said solemnly.

"Oh NO!" Elijah yelped, pretending to cry as he walked toward the house. "Don't tell daddy I'm mean! He won't make me any lunch!"

Ally laughed. "You're funny, Unka Lijah." She giggled, pulling on his arm. "Horsy ride!" she demanded.

Elijah swung her up onto his back and, holding her firmly, trotted the rest of the way to the house. He walked onto to the deck with Ally shrieking in delight over his fast ride and Elijah laughing just as happily at her joyful response.

He sat Ally down and stooped to remove his sand-caked shoes. She ditched her sandals in a heartbeat and ran into the house yelling for Sean. He knew Anna was there from Ally's immediate, happy cry.

"Grammie!" she shrieked, running to her grandmother who was seated in one of the overstuffed leather chairs in their living room. Anna swooped her grand daughter onto her lap. "Where've YOU been, munchkin?" she asked, hugging her.

"By the ocean." Ally announced happily.

"Sean!" Anna said, caustically. "This child should NOT be by the ocean all by herself!"

Sean, seated on the couch drinking coffee, opened his mouth to respond, but he never got the chance. Elijah had just walked into the room and he was instantly outraged. "How can you think he'd EVER allow that?!" he asked her, obviously angry. "I was with her every minute. You don't know your son very well if you think he'd allow Ally to be by that water alone."

Sean gaped at him, clearly astonished by his outburst, and Elijah turned quickly and walked into the kitchen, feeling depressed and angry. He hated having words with Sean's mom, but he hated the derogatory tone she took with Sean even more. He shook his head and flopped onto one of the stools next to their breakfast bar. He felt miserable, half sorry he had said anything, and hopeful that Sean wasn't angry.

The kitchen door opened and he figured it was Sean. "Sorry baby." He said softly without looking up. "I'll go apologize."

"No need, Elijah." Anna's voice said.

Elijah spun on the stool, wide-eyed.

"I think we need to talk." Anna said.

Elijah nodded. "I AM sorry." He said quietly. "It's just that. . ."

"It's just that you can't bear the way I talk to the one you love." Anna said softly. "Yes, I know. Sean just told me."

Elijah stared at her and said nothing for a long moment. "Yes." He said finally. "I can't bear it." He looked at Sean's mother wondering how far he dared go, and then decided to just say what he felt. "I love him more than my own life. When I hear you talk down to him, it drives me insane. I'm afraid he feels hurt by it."

Anna nodded. "I understand." She moved to stand beside Elijah and looked him dead in the eye. "But there's something you need to understand too, Elijah. My relationship with Sean isn't like your relationship with your mother." She shook her head. "We never had the chance to be that way. My illness took that away from us." She was quiet for a moment. "But you must believe me, I love him every bit as much as you do, and if I thought my sharp tongue really hurt him, I'd cut it out. Sean understands me."

Elijah looked at her closely. "Maybe he does." Elijah said quietly, shaking his head. "Its ME who doesn't understand."

Anna laughed and reached out to hug him. "Elijah, I'm glad he has you. From what he tells me, you are everything he's ever wanted. He says he has peace with you. Peace and healing." Elijah was astonished to see tears in her eyes. "I'm grateful to you." She said softly. Then she shook herself as if shaking off her gentle mood and pulled away. "And." she said in her normal imperious tone. "I'll TRY not to be so sarcastic with him." Then she turned back to Elijah and winked. "I'll TRY."

It hadn't taken long for Anna and Elijah to develop a loving relationship. Their mutual love for Sean and their recognition of each other as important to him helped each of them learn to appreciate the other. They teased each other unmercifully and Elijah knew he had officially arrived when Anna began trying to run his life at every conceivable opportunity.

When they got to the ballpark Elijah was surprised by the number of cars in the lot. He knew Sean would be glad that a lot of people had shown up. The more people, the more money for the kids. "Sean will like this." Elijah murmured to Anna, who nodded in return.

Anna was proud of Sean's philanthropy and happy to support him. And Elijah knew Sean was glad she was coming to the game. Mac had been watching for them and ran to Elijah's car when he saw them pull in. "They're doing batting practice," he said to Elijah as he leaned down to kiss his mother. "He was wondering when you'd get here."

Elijah left Mac with Anna and bolted towards the field. He couldn't wait to see Sean play and still felt angry that he hadn't been allowed to play too. He heard Mac yell something at him as he ran off, but just waved back at him and kept running.

He rounded a corner and saw the green of the diamond and the player's uniforms. Hoping for a word with Sean he ran to the link fence. Peering out onto the field. He spotted Sean at once. He was hard to miss standing in the middle of a large group of reporters and photographers. Elijah spun around and leaned back against the fence.

"Damn!" he murmured angrily. Reporters would recognize Elijah, which he absolutely did not want. This was Sean's day, and he didn't want the cause Sean cared about to get lost underneath a bunch of 'Lord of the Rings' questions that had already been asked and answered 3000 times.

Anna and Mac approached him and Elijah jerked his thumb back over his shoulder, gesturing toward Sean and the mob scene around him. "He'll hate that." Elijah said. "And I hate it."

Anna patted his arm. "No, he WON'T hate it, honey. It's why he's here. To publicize the areas where these kids need help."

Elijah sighed. She was right of course. "Mac," Elijah said quietly, "I'm just gonna hang out back here." He gestured toward the bleachers. "Up there somewhere where I won't be seen." He moved toward the bleacher seats.

Mac scowled. "Come on, Lij." He said, pulling Elijah back to the fence. "Sean wants to see you. Don't go hide."

"I don't want them to see me." He explained to Mac. "It'll take away from what Sean's trying to do here."

"Why don't you just ask him what HE wants!" Anna said, with a laugh. "Hi, honey."

Elijah looked up to see Sean grinning at him through the fence. "Hey, doodle! Where you going?" Sean asked as he smooched his mom through the holes in the fence and grinned at Mac in welcome.

Elijah smiled at him. "Aww, I just don't want THEM to see me." He said quietly, nodding toward the reporters.

Sean shrugged. "Why not? They know you're coming. I told them." He grinned at Elijah and reached up to quickly touch his fingers as they gripped the links of the fence between them. "Why do you think there are so many people here? They all came to see the big star."

Elijah's mouth fell open and Sean laughed out loud. "I'm kidding. No one knows you're here. But I do want you to sit over by my bench. It's on the other side of the field." He jerked his head toward the bench and started to walk. "Come on. I saved you some good seats."

Anna laughed and took both Mac and Elijah's arms as the walked in the direction that Sean was moving. "If they spot you, just keep talking about the kids and what they need." She advised.

"Yes, mommie." Elijah said with a wink and Mac laughed out loud.

Sean had saved them seats along the 3rd base line and in the second row. Their seats would not only give them a good view of the game, but of Sean as well. He got them settled in, kissed his mother, patted Mac on the back, gave Elijah's fingers a quick, surreptitious, squeeze, and walked back to the bench with his team-mates.

By the 5th inning, Sean's team was behind 3 to 1. Sean had managed 2 hits, but had been left on base every time. Elijah had cheered his lungs out every time Sean was at bat, and when Sean made a great throw to home plate from his position at 3rd, Elijah and Mac had created such a commotion that the people around them had grumbled and Sean had glanced over at them, grinning hugely. Elijah was having a great time and hoped that Sean decided to do this more often.

The other team was at bat. They already had a runner on second and Sean was standing close to third base to be sure he didn't get by and head for home plate.

The left handed batter swung and hit a line drive to the shortstop who was playing between 1st and 2nd. The 1st baseman caught his toss, tagged the runner, and wound up to throw to Sean to try to get the runner who was already bearing down on Sean from 2nd base.

The pitcher had thrown himself to the ground to give the 1st baseman a better view of Sean's positron. But the thrower was off balance after tagging the batter and his throw was high. Sean leaped into the air and snagged the ball, gracefully twisting to face the runner as he dropped hard to the ground.

Mac, Anna, and Elijah leaped to their feet, cheering Sean's catch along with the rest of the crowd. Elijah turned to look at the approaching runner, and two thoughts flew through his mind: "He's going awfully fast." and "That guy's awfully big!" He felt alarm burst within him without realizing why.

Sean squared his feet and dug in, clearly not intending to surrender the base. The runner never even slowed. He hit Sean full force and they both went flying, along with the ball. Elijah saw Sean try to get to his feet to go after the ball and gasped as Sean fell back to the ground, his face twisted in pain.

Elijah bolted toward the field before the dust had even settled, but Mac pulled him back. "Wait, Lij!" he said, pointing to the field. "The ball's still in play!" The catcher, seeing Sean go down, had charged toward 3rd base and grabbed the ball. He tagged the runner, then turned to look at Sean who was now writhing on the ground, obviously injured.

Elijah pulled away from Mac and ran. He shoved players and umpires out of the way and finally reached 3rd base. Sean was on the ground, biting his lip hard and moaning, reaching for his right foot. Elijah crouched over him. The runner who had charged him was among the people bending over Sean and, spotting him, Elijah stood back up. He was pissed off and ready to do battle. Seeing this, Sean reached for his hand. "Lij, no!" Sean moaned, but Elijah was already gone.

"You did that on purpose!" he yelled, moving toward the man. "And I'm going to kick your fucking ass for it!"

Mac ran to his brother and Sean pointed to Elijah. "Jesus, Mac, get him." His voice was thin with pain.

Mac ran to Elijah and grabbed his arm. "Lij! No! Sean doesn't want this. Don't make it worse for him."

Elijah looked at Mac and then glared once more at the base runner who walked up to him quietly. "Look, man. I never figured he'd be able to hold the base. But the guy's a fucking brick with feet. I never meant to hurt him and I'm sorry that I did."

Elijah turned away, hearing Sean call to him. He fell back to his knees beside him while Mac knelt on his other side. The team doctor was untying Sean's shoe and trying to remove it. Sean grabbed Elijah's arm, his face white.

"Fuck the reporters," Elijah thought, taking Sean's hand in his. "Let them write it up. I don't give a fuck."

Sean gasped and clutched Elijah's hand tightly when they removed his shoe and Elijah could see Sean's foot was already badly swollen.

"Sean?" A quiet voice said from behind Elijah. Anna.

Sean's eyes rolled up to Mac in mute appeal and Mac instantly left his brother's side and went to Anna. "I think either his foot or ankle may be broken, mom. Badly sprained at any rate. But he's ok." He hugged his mother and shrugged, trying to minimize Sean's injury for her.

The discussion around Sean now involved choices between ambulances and available autos and the reporters were beginning to close in, photographers raising cameras.

Sean pulled his hand out of Elijah's grasp and yelled for his brother. Mac ran to his side at once. "I'm going in Elijah's car, Mac. Don't let them call an ambulance." His brother nodded and moved toward Sean's coach and the team doctor to let them know.

"Sean, you can't walk!" Elijah spouted. "The car's in the god damned parking lot!" He was upset and showing it. "And I don't give a fuck about the reporters." He grabbed Sean's hand again.

As much pain as he was in Sean had to laugh. "Mom!" he yelled.

"Right here, honey." Her voice came from right behind Sean. He leaned his head back and saw her kneeling behind him. "Can you drive Lij's car out here onto the field?"

"Sure thing!" she said. "Lijah, give me your keys." Elijah surrendered them to her at once.

"Now listen," Sean said to him, pulling his hand free again. "I have to let them take my picture. It'll be great publicity for the kids! BETTER even if you're here! But they CAN'T see us holding hands, goofus!" he said, smiling thinly. Elijah nodded, and didn't try to grab Sean's hand again. He stayed kneeling beside him as the reporters and photographers descended.

They had only questioned Sean and Elijah for a moment or two when the horn of Elijah's car started beeping behind them. Anna had driven it out onto the field and Elijah immediately put an end to the questions.

"Hey, that's it, guys!" he said, firmly. "He's hurt and has to go to the hospital."

Elijah and Mac lifted Sean and carried him to Elijah's car. It wasn't an easy fit but they got Sean into the front seat. He was clenching his teeth and moaning.. but he was in. Anna sat in back and Elijah drove. Mac ran toward his own car yelling over his shoulder, "Meet you there!"

For Elijah, every little delay was maddening. "God damn it!" he spouted. "Fucking lights! Fucking traffic! Fucking cars!" Sean was in pain, but he still had to laugh at Elijah's sputtering.

"Lij, I'm fine. It hurts, but not that much anymore. Relax."

"Fuck that!" Elijah yelped. "God!! You could have a broken leg or something!"

Sean rolled his eyes and looked back at his mother who laughed. "I've called Cedar Sinai. They'll have a wheel chair waiting. Even used the name Patty Duke so we'd get the royal treatment."

Sean laughed. "Just what I've always wanted. The royal treatment at Cedar Sinai."

When they pulled into the hospital's emergency room entrance, Elijah fully expected to see a dozen doctors and a wheel chair waiting for them. Instead he saw nothing and no one, and he was furious. "Goddamn it! Where ARE those fuckers!" he fumed. Mac had dashed to the car and was trying to help Elijah support Sean's leg while Sean turned to get out.

Anna looked around and, seeing no help, became as incensed as Elijah. "We'll just see about THIS!" She said and turned on her heel to walk into the hospital. Sean eyed Mac and jerked his head after their mother's retreating back, telling him to go after her, but Elijah grabbed Mac's arm.

"Let her go!" he said in a fury. "They knew we were coming and were supposed to be out here. Let those fuckers have a little dose of mommy."

Sean and Mac both laughed, feeling sure that Anna was giving an Oscar winning performance inside the hospital. As if to confirm their theory, the doors flew open almost at once and Anna emerged with six attendants and one wheel chair in tow, issuing orders as she walked. Elijah, Sean, and Mac all grinned at each other, and Mac ran to get the wheel chair.

Mac and Elijah helped Sean get into the wheel chair and in spite of his upbeat mood, it was clear to Elijah that Sean was still feeling a lot of pain. When the attendant lifted his leg to prop it on the wheelchair's leg brace, Sean moaned and bit his lip, his face white. Elijah turned to Anna who was biting her lip in an almost uncanny replication of her son. She saw Elijah's face and reached up to hug him. "He'll be fine, honey." She murmured. 'Relax."

Elijah walked right behind the wheelchair into the emergency room area with Mac and Anna close on his heels. The attendants whisked Sean into a cubicle and told everyone else to go to the waiting room until he'd been examined. Elijah didn't like this at all. "Why can't I go in and sit with him?" he complained to the nurse. "He's in there all alone. I want to be with him."

The nurse tried to explain that Sean wasn't alone, and that the doctors were examining his foot, but Elijah wasn't buying it. "So what? I'm not going to bother them." He said vehemently.

Mac and Anna tried to lead him back to the waiting room, but he wouldn't go. "I want to be with Sean." he said, pacing. "Why can't I go back there?"

Finally Sean's mother grabbed his arm and forced him into a chair. "Now listen!" she said firmly. "Don't you think I want to be back there too? I DO! But they have to examine him and doing that might cause him pain. Do you think he WANTS you back there if he's in pain?"

Elijah stared at her. "Just stay here with me for a few minutes." She said, patting his arm. "If it takes any longer than that we'll BOTH storm the doors!" Mac rolled his eyes and Elijah laughed.

In a moment or two a doctor emerged and walked to Anna. "We have to take him to x-ray. We feel sure he has broken bones in his foot, but won't know which ones, how bad the break is, or what treatment we're going to use until we can look at his x-rays."

Anna nodded and grabbed Elijah's arm. "Can't his friend sit with him?" she asked, smiling winningly.

"Well, sure." The doctor said, obviously awed by the famous actress. "Follow me, sir. I'll guide you back to x-ray."

Elijah grinned at Anna and hugged her quickly, then followed the doctor back to where Sean was lying on a stretcher. His face was still white, but he smiled when he saw Elijah walk up. "Hey, doodle! How'd you get back here? I asked them to let you but they said 'no'."

"One guess." Elijah said, leaning over the stretcher.

"Mom." Sean said with a grin and Elijah grinned back. "You got it."

He chatted quietly with Sean until they came to take him into x-ray, then sat in a nearby chair and waited until they wheeled him back. The attendant pushed Sean's stretcher back to the emergency room with Elijah walking beside it. Once Sean was back in the cubical, Anna and Mac were allowed in to see him.

It was less than a half-hour before the doctor reappeared carrying Sean's x-ray. "Three bones in your foot are fractured." He said to Sean. "Luckily the fractures aren't serious and you won't need surgery to repair the damage. We're going to put you in a cast for three weeks or so and see how you do."

"Can I walk?" Sean asked. He felt disgusted with himself. He had a busy schedule and this was going to put quite a crimp in his plans.

"I would advise you to stay off it for the next week or so." He shrugged. "See what you can tolerate."

The doctor gently ushered Anna, Mac, and Elijah back to the waiting room so they could put Sean's cast on. "As soon as we're done with the cast, you can take him home." He advised them.

In less than an hour Sean and a set of crutches were back in Elijah's car, a white cast covered his foot and extended halfway up his calf. Anna and Mac had told Sean goodbye at the hospital and extracted promises of a phone call from Elijah later in the day. Sean was still in a lot of pain and Elijah was frantic to get him back to Malibu. The doctors had given him medication but he hadn't taken it yet. And beyond being in pain, Sean was feeling royally pissed off.

"Fuck!" he yelled as the car went over a speed bump, jarring Sean's leg.

"Sorry, baby." Elijah said sadly. "I'm sorry."

Sean sighed and patted Elijah's hand. "It's ok. Just try to take it easy." He sighed heavily and grimaced, and Elijah glued his eyes to the road, determined not to hit another bump.

Twenty minutes later they faced their first obstacle. No wheel chair. How were they going to get Sean into the house? He tried using the crutches, but he was still in so much pain that he stumbled badly with them. Elijah made him sit back down in the car. He was terrified that Sean would never make it or would fall, and he was ready to tear his hair out. Then he thought of something. "Wait right here!" he said to Sean and bolted for the house.

"What ELSE would I do?" Sean said irritably. Then he shook his head. "I can't take this out on him." He mumbled. He heard the door open and looked up. Elijah was pushing the chair that accompanied their computer desk. It had wheels and moved smoothly across the concrete drive way.

"How's this?" Elijah asked him?

"You," Sean said, smiling at him, "are a fucking genius."

Elijah eased the chair as close to the car as he could get it and Sean slid onto it. It worked nearly as well as the wheel chair would have. Elijah slowly rolled Sean into the house, but their landing had steps down into the living room and suddenly Elijah realized that their bedroom, on the second story, was also going to require Sean to negotiate steps.

"Oh damn!" he muttered. Then he turned to look at Sean, gauging his weight, wondering if he could carry him to the couch. "But if I dropped him. . ." Elijah thought. He shuddered. Sean had carried the crutches in and Elijah glanced at them, wondering if Sean could use them just to get down to the first level.

"Listen," Sean said finally. "just let me lean on you on one side and the railing on the other. I can ease down to the bottom of the steps that way. Then we'll use the chair again."

This plan worked to get Sean to the couch, and Elijah immediately called Mac. "I need you, man. Forgot all about getting him up the steps! He can't walk at all. Tried and it nearly killed him. Can you come over?"

Mac assured Elijah that he was on his way and Elijah hung up and went back to Sean. He was gobbling pain pills and grimacing. "Damn!" he moaned. "This fucker hurts!"

Elijah dashed upstairs, he grabbed pillows and a blanket, and dashed back down. He slid the pillow under Sean's head, laid the blanket on the couch and went to the kitchen for a scissors. When he returned, he began, very gently, to cut off the rest of Sean's uniform pants.

They had been half cut off at the hospital so the cast could be applied, but Elijah wanted to remove the rest of them. Sean leaned back on the pillow and watched him. The pain pills were starting to hit and he was feeling a bit groggy, but he watched Elijah with interest. "Watch what you cut there, bub." He teased. "Ruin my day AND yours if you cut the wrong thing off."

Elijah lowered his head and laughed softly. "How can you think about stuff like that NOW?" he asked.

"Hey," Sean said with a lopsided grin. "I broke my foot! The rest of me is working just fine."

"Oh yeah?" Elijah said, laughing. "Not TONIGHT it's not. Can you lift up, Sean, just for a second?" He had cut away all of the uniform pants he could but needed Sean to lift up so he could removed them.

Sean grimaced as he lifted his hips off the couch and Elijah pulled the remnants of his pants out from under him. Then he tugged on the sleeve of Sean's uniform shirt. "Might as well take it off too. I'll get you something clean to put on. That one's dirty."

"So am I." Sean muttered. "Baby, fetch me a warm washcloth when you get me a shirt. I can scrape off the top layer anyway."

Elijah returned with clean underwear and a warm washcloth. In short order Sean was, if not clean, at least cleaner, and had clean clothes on. Elijah carried the dirty stuff to the laundry room, then returned and sat on the floor beside the couch.

"You want anything?" he asked Sean. "Some tea? Something to eat? Anything?" He was worried and trying not to show it. He knew Sean was still in pain and he was concerned about his ability to take care of him.

"Don't you have to be somewhere tomorrow?" Sean asked him.

"Oh SHIT!" Elijah spouted! "I'm SUPPOSED to be at some stupid fitting thing but . . ." he looked at Sean. "I'm not going." He said abruptly.

"Lij," Sean said softly, "I don't want you disrupting your schedule for ME. I'll be fine."

"Oh?" Elijah said, arching an eyebrow. "You're fine? Oh. OK. Let's see you get to the bathroom, Sean. Or maybe to the kitchen to get something to eat."

Sean scowled at him. "Maybe by tomorrow it won't hurt so much."

"Riiight." Elijah said, reaching up to stroke his hair. "And maybe by tomorrow you'll sprout wings and you can just FLY to the bathroom."

Sean sighed. "God, I hate this."

There was a brief knock at the door and Mac walked in. "Sorry, Lij. Thought I'd let myself in just in case you were with Sean."

"Hey, buddy!" Elijah said, smiling at him. "No problem."

Mac leaned over the couch and looked down at his brother. "You look like shit." He observed mildly.

"Yeah?" Sean said just as mildly. 'I have three broken bones. What's your excuse?"

Elijah sighed. "OK. If the Astin Brothers show is over, I want to get him upstairs and I'm worried sick about how we're going to do it."

Mac shrugged. "Didn't you ever hear of the fireman's carry?"

Elijah shook his head and Mac walked around the couch to stand beside him. "Grab my wrists." Mac said to him. Elijah grabbed Mac's wrists and Mac grabbed both of his. "Now." He said. "The third baseman here just sits down on our arms, puts his arms around our necks, and up he goes."

"Let's do it now." Sean said. "While the pain pills are working a bit."

Sean stood up and turned around, leaning on Elijah's shoulder, then sat down on their arms. Elijah felt nervous as hell about this, but Mac seemed confident and Sean wasn't all that heavy.

Slowly, Elijah and Mac climbed up the steps to the bedroom. About halfway up Elijah saw Sean bite his lip and he knew he was hurting even with the pain pills. "Lets move a little faster, Mac," he suggested, and in short order, Sean was deposited in his own bed.

"Thank Christ!" he moaned as Mac and Elijah helped him get his leg into the bed.

"I gotta run." Mac told them. "Call me if you need any more help. I'll call mom when I get home and tell her how Sean's doing." He hugged both Sean and Elijah before heading down the stairs and out the door.

Elijah followed him down long enough to retrieve the chair with wheels on it and carried it up to the bedroom. "We'll need this when you want to use the bathroom." He said wheeling it over to Sean's side of the bed. He had also brought the crutches and leaned them against the wall. "Or maybe tomorrow you'll feel up to using these things," Elijah murmured.

"Could be." Sean said, smiling. Then he reached for Elijah's hand. "Come lie down with me, baby." he said, tugging. "I've hardly gotten to hug you all day."

"Sean, I'm afraid of bumping your leg." Elijah protested. "Please, just go to sleep."


"Nope." Sean said, stubbornly. "Not 'till you come here and snuggle me for awhile."

Elijah carefully lay down on the bed, making sure he kept every part of his body as far away from Sean's leg as possible. He put his head on Sean's shoulder and sighed happily when Sean's arms wrapped around him.

"Did I tell you thank you for wanting to kill the guy who did this to me?" Sean said, laughing.

"No. Matter of fact you didn't, and he was BIG too!" Elijah said with a grin.

"Well, you would have been beating up on the wrong guy." Sean said quietly. His voice sounded sleepy and Elijah hoped that the pills would help him drift off. "I think I broke my foot when I landed after jumping for the ball. That's when the pain hit."

Elijah thought back and remembered how hard Sean had landed and the way his body twisted as he came down. Then he remembered the runner, charging Sean, trying to knock him over, and he shook his head.

"I don't think so, Sean. I saw it all and he hit you so soon after you landed that you could barely tell the two things apart. The guy was trying to knock you over."

"I know, Doodle, but that's what he's SUPPOSED to do." Sean murmured into his hair.

"I'm gonna sleep in Ally's room tonight." Elijah told him.

"Oh no you're not!" Sean said. "You're sleeping with ME!"

"Sean," Elijah said as patiently as he could. "I'm not sleeping here and taking a chance of accidentally kicking your leg."

"You won't, baby." Sean whispered, holding him close. "Besides, I'm not letting you go.. so there."

Elijah sighed and glanced up at the skylight over their heads. It was dark now and as Sean stroked his hair Elijah felt the weight of the day's events descend on him.

Sean's fingers in his hair slowed their gentle stroking and Elijah heard Sean's breathing grow slow and even. He leaned up slightly to see Sean's face and nodded. The medication had finally taken him. He seemed to be sleeping soundly even though his brow was still etched with lines of pain.

Elijah carefully extracted himself from Sean's arms, desperate not to wake him, and covered Sean with their comforter. Then he eased to the far side of the bed, well away from where Sean lay, and tried to catch a few winks himself.. not even noticing that he still had all his clothes on.

His first awareness when he began to wake up was that he was cold. There was no Sean pressed against him or comforter on top of him. Nothing to warm him as he slept, and he moved his hands, seeking either source of warmth. Not finding what he sought his mind reached for consciousness, but before he reached it fully he felt his stomach dip in fear. He sat up, abruptly awake, knowing something was dreadfully wrong long before his conscious mind had recalled yesterday's events.

He heard Sean moaning softly. Then heard him make the kind of whimpering noise that he normally only made when they were in the throes of lovemaking. "Sean?" Elijah said questioningly, turning in bed to face him.

He couldn't see Sean's face in the darkness, but he heard him moan again and knew, without seeing, that his teeth were clenched against terrible pain. "Lij," he gasped. "Pain pills. Left them downstairs."

"Jesus!" Elijah yelled, jumping out of bed and bolting down the stairs. He grabbed the pills, snagged a cold drink from the bar fridge, and bolted back upstairs within 10 seconds. He turned on the small lamp on the table next to Sean and leaned over him. "Here, baby." He murmured. Sean's face twisted as he tried to sit up and take the pills and drink from Elijah's hand.

Elijah sat the pop down and tore the lid off the top of the pill bottle. "How many?" he asked, desperate to get some of the medication into Sean, who was obviously in agony.

"They said two." Sean said., his voice stretched as thin as paper. "Give me three."

Elijah looked at him and hesitated, but Sean's eyes were dark with pain and Elijah immediately gave in. He popped three pills into Sean's hand and handed him the cold drink in one motion. Then he crouched down beside the bed and leaned his forehead against it, feeling his body shaking uncontrollably, breath rasping.

Sean's voice pulled at him. 'Lij?" he said softly. "Where are you?"

Elijah realized that Sean couldn't see him, crouched down that way, so he stood up and leaned over him. "Right here, baby." He whispered. "I'm right here. Sorry. Was picking something up."

It was clear that Sean was still suffering, but he patted the bed next to him. "Come lie down." He murmured.

Elijah walked to the other side of the bed and lay down where Sean had patted. He lay diagonally so that no part of his body would be anywhere near Sean's foot. His stomach was quivering and he could hear his breath coming in soft gasps. Sean watched him quietly and reached out to stroke his hair. "I'm alright, baby." He said softly.

Elijah shook his head. "I can't bear it." He whispered. Sean nodded and pulled Elijah close to him, drawing Elijah's head to his shoulder.

"Be OK in a few minutes." Sean told him, his voice strained. "The meds work pretty quickly." He stroked Elijah's hair, understanding what he was feeling. "Hard to see someone you love in pain." Sean murmured. "I know."

"Hard doesn't begin to cover it." Elijah said in a shaky voice. He felt torn between the desire to cling to Sean, needing the solace that contact with his body always offered, and his great fear of jostling Sean's already painful injury.

But Sean made his mind up for him. His arms wrapped around Elijah, holding him tightly, and he showed no signs of wanting to let go. "Stay here, baby." Sean murmured into his ear. "Please, stay by me. I need you."

Elijah buried his face against the hollow of Sean's throat and wrapped his arms tight around his neck. He felt a bit ashamed of the desire that raged through his body. Sean was in no condition to think about love making. And yet he pulled Elijah up until they were eye to eye and kissed him softly.. sweetly. "Thanks baby." He whispered against Elijah's mouth

Elijah smiled, hearing the sleepy, mediation-induced hollowness in Sean's voice. "Think nothing of it." He whispered back. 'Now go to sleep. And PLEASE wake me up right away if your foot starts to hurt."

Sean nodded, already half unconscious, and snuggled Elijah's head into the curve of his neck. "Mmmmm." He murmured. And was out cold. Elijah struggled to stay awake or at least aware so that he didn't accidentally bump Sean's foot, but exhaustion had already set in and he followed Sean into sleep within minutes.

He woke the next morning feeling a sense of panic before he was even fully awake. He didn't feel Sean's body against his! He sat up quickly and spun to look where Sean had been lying the night before. No one there. He heard a sound and spun again, this time looking toward the bathroom, and there he was, sitting in their wheeled desk chair, 'rowing' himself toward the bed with his crutch.

"Hey, Doodle." he said cheerfully. His injured foot was stuck out in front of him and Elijah leaped from the bed to take over wheeling the chair. "Why didn't you WAKE me?" he sputtered.

Sean shrugged and glanced over his shoulder to look at him. "Oh," he said quietly. "I didn't want to wake you. Chair was close enough so I just popped onto it and away I went."

"Dammit, Sean!" Elijah groused as he helped Sean get back onto the bed. "WAKE me! What if you'd fallen? You could have made it worse! Just fucking, wake me! OK?"

Sean eyed him for a second and then reached up and pulled Elijah down so that they were sitting side by side. "Hey." He said softly. "I'm a lot better today. I took some more pain pills last night after you fell asleep and this morning the foot isn't hurting half as much."

Elijah glanced at him and shook his head. "Just wake me." He said again. "Please."

He stood up and turned to Sean. "What you want for breakfast?"

Sean grinned. "Don't TELL me! YOU'RE gonna COOK?!"

"Hey!" Elijah yelped in protest. "It so happens that there are certain things that I cook very well." He grinned at Sean. "YOU," he said, pointing at him. "just have to be sure you pick one of those things to have for breakfast."

"OK." Sean chuckled. "Can I have a list of doable dishes?"

Elijah opened his mouth to speak but Sean raised his hand to interrupt. "Uh I should add that this list should contain items that one might conceivably eat for breakfast. Does me no good if you're talking tuna fish sandwiches."

Elijah screwed up his face. "Let's see now. Hmm. Breakfast stuff! Well, that DOES shorten the list a bit. But, there are a few breakfast items on my menu. Umm, cereal for one. Scrambled eggs for another." He leaned toward Sean. "I always break the fried kind." He said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Ah! I see!" Sean said understandingly. "Well, scrambled eggs sounds great." Then he added, hopefully: "You want some help?"

"NO!" Elijah spouted. "You're hurt! You stay here and watch TV." He hit the 'on' button on their remote and handed it to Sean. "You lucky guy. You get breakfast in bed!"

Sean grabbed at his hand as he turned to leave. "Let me watch you cook breakfast." He pleaded. "I don't want to sit up here all alone."

Elijah glanced down the stairs and worried. "I don't think I can get you down there, baby."

Sean jumped up and grabbed the crutch. "You don't have to! I can get down them by myself."

Elijah looked skeptical. "Sean, please. It's been less than 24 hours since you got hurt!"

"I'm FINE!" Sean insisted. "Come on, babe. I want to watch you cook." He already had the crutch under one arm and was hobbling over to the stairs. Elijah dashed over and walked down them just in front of him, hands outstretched.

Sean giggled at him. 'You're silly. I'm . . . " and he slipped.

"Jesus!" Elijah screamed. He leaped to grab Sean around the waist, steadying him on the step before he fell, but he saw Sean wince and knew he'd hit his foot on something when he slipped.

"Did you hurt your foot?" Elijah asked him, his voice shaky with fear.

"No!" Sean said. "Jolted it a bit when I slipped, but it's fine." He draped his arm around Elijah's shoulder. "YOU be my crutch." He murmured, against his ear.

Elijah was a nervous wreck, but he got Sean into the kitchen and up on a stool at their breakfast bar. "Now just SIT THERE!" he entreated. "Please!" He put both hands on Sean's shoulders and shook him slightly. "Please," he said in a soft voice. "just stay put. If you want something, tell me and I'll get it. OK?"

Sean grinned at him. "OK, baby. I'll let you wait on me like I'm some kind of defective."

Elijah turned away slowly and sighed with relief. He gathered the things he needed and started to make Sean's breakfast, stopping for only a minute to pour his orange juice and hand it to him. Sean drank his orange juice every morning out of a 'Frodo' glass that he got from Burger King. He refused to use any other glass in the morning. If his 'Frodo' glass was dirty, he washed it. But it, alone, held his morning orange juice. His coffee was served in his 'Pervy Hobbit Fancier' mug. And again, no other container was allowed to take its place.

Sean watched with interest as Elijah mixed, poured, scrambled, and toasted his breakfast into readiness. When he'd finished he turned to Sean and sat the plate in front of him with a flourish. "Scrambled eggs A La Elijah Wood." He announced.

Sean gaped in astonishment. The toast was lightly browned and buttered; the eggs were yellow and fluffy, done to perfection; and a slice of melon and two bright strawberries lay beside them. He looked up at Elijah who was grinning madly. "YOU," he said "have breakfast duty from now on!"

Elijah laughed, delighted at his triumph. His eggs didn't meet this level of perfection very often. He was usually in too much of a hurry and his results were either too runny or too burned. But today he had taken his time, wanting everything to be perfect. He poured himself some orange juice and watched Sean eat feeling a tremendous sense of happiness and contentment.

"Don't you have somewhere to go today?" Sean asked him between bites.

Elijah swallowed his orange juice and shook his head. "I did have some fittings for 'Thumbsucker' but I cancelled. I'm staying here with you."

Sean shook his head. "No, babe. I don't want you to cancel. I'm fine to stay here alone. Call them back and see if you can still do it."

"Oh yeah?" Elijah laughed. "You're fine, huh. I SAW how 'fine' you are when you came down the steps just now. What if I hadn't been there to catch you? I'm STAYING!" Suddenly his eyes got wide and he looked at Sean with something like fright.

Sean froze over his eggs. "What is it?"

"How in God's name am I going to get you back upstairs?"

"Same way I got down. You'll support me on the bad side and I'll grab the railing. It'll work, Elwood. Relax." He grinned at Elijah. "Great breakfast, babe. Thank you."

Elijah seemed lost in thought for a moment, then turned to Sean and smiled. "Yeah. That'll work. Glad you like it, baby. Back in a sec." And he spun and flew out of the room. Puzzled, Sean listened as his feet pounded up the stairs and down the hall. He has no idea what Elijah was thinking about but he was sure it was something for Sean's benefit.

Sean thought about how lovingly Elijah had cared for him since he was injured and smiled. Then his mind turned to last night. Eyes smarting, he thought about Elijah lying in bed beside him gasping for breath, his body trembling because Sean was in pain. "God, he's so wonderful." Sean thought, wiping quickly at his eyes.

From above him came a loud clatter followed immediately by a fairly large bang! Sean jumped. "Elijah!" he yelled. "Are you OK?"

"Fine, Sean!" Came echoing down the stairs. 'Be down in a second."

Sean had just started to relax when another loud clamor reached his ears, seemingly from the direction of their bedroom. Unable to stand anymore, Sean hobbled to the bottom of the steps. "Elijah Jordan Wood!" he yelled. "Get over here and tell me what the hell is going on up there!"

Elijah's head popped around the corner of the stairwell. He grinned down at Sean. "Just OOOONE more second. OK?" Then he was gone and the clatter started up again.

"Well, screw THIS!" Sean griped, and started, hesitatingly, to climb the stairs. He was still on the second step when Elijah turned the corner and, seeing him, gave an exasperated sigh and dashed down to help him.

"Jesus, Astin!" he growled, pulling Sean's arm around his shoulder. "And you have enough nerve to call ME impatient! Couldn't you have waited 5 minutes??"

"NO!" Sean yelped. "Not with all the damned noise going on up there. I couldn't. Nope. Sorry, but NO."

From the top of the steps, Sean leaned on Elijah and hobbled to their bedroom. There was a huge pile of CD's and a black box on their bed. "What's that?" Sean asked.

"That's the Play Station Two that we played in New Zealand!" Elijah crowed. "I thought while you were recuperating you'd like to take me on in a few games. See if you've improved any."

Sean grinned at him. "I didn't even know you still had it!"

"Yep." Elijah said, grinning back. "I kept all the games we loved. Might still have some of them saved on the memory card."

Sean half hopped, half walked to the bed and sat down. He began to go through the Play Station games and both he and Elijah began hooting and laughing over all the great memories these games evoked.

"Remember how MAD you got when I kicked your weenie ASS at this one?" Sean reminded him.

"Oh YEAH?" Elijah said, raising one eyebrow. "Wanna see if you can re-live a golden moment?" Then he held his hand up. "That is.. if it's not too much for a old, broken down, defective like you."

"Old, huh." Sean said, tossing the CD at him. "Defective, huh. Cue it up, wanker. Your ass is MINE!"

Elijah inserted the CD and picked up a controller. Then he leaned over and gave Sean a brief kiss and a wink. "It sure IS, baby."

Sean grabbed his own controller and winked back. "Yeah, well, I meant in the game TOO."

"Play for a kiss?" Elijah suggested.

"Oh, sweetie!" Sean said, smiling. "I think I can do better than THAT even with a cast on!"

Elijah laughed and leaned over to nuzzle his face against Sean's shoulder for a moment. He felt Sean's arm wrap around him and pull him close until his face was pressed against Sean's neck. "Thanks, baby." Sean whispered into his ear. "Thanks for being so good to me. For taking such good care of me. For being there for me always. For being willing to take on both a big center-fielder AND my mother all at the same time."

Elijah cupped Sean's face in his hand and leaned forward to kiss him. "Your mother was the only one who really scared me." He said grinning up at Sean. Then he kissed him again. "I didn't do anything special." He said softly.

Sean shook his head and gave a fake scowl. "Not true." He grumbled against Elijah's cheek.

"You're just trying to butter me up so I'll take it easy on you in this game." Elijah said with a wink.

"Oh?" Sean responded, "Is that so? Well, tell you what. Winner gets a kiss. Loser has to take over the winner's night to do dishes. with NO complaints!"

"You're on!" Elijah crowed, hitting the game's 'on' switch.

Sean laughed and propped his casted foot up on a pillow. "Bring it on, Ring boy."

"Poor Sean." Elijah said in fake sympathy. "Three broken bones and dishpan hands to boot. It's so sad."

"Not sad at all if I've got you around." Sean murmured to him. "Not poor Sean. Lucky Sean. VERY lucky Sean."


- end -